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"DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP." 

Delving in the dust of ten decades. 

by 

GEORGE SHELDON. 
>l 

Paper read at the forty-fifth annual meeting of the 

Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, 

Deerfield, February 24th, 1914. 




DEERFIELD, 



1914. 



B l(j>t> 




l^k_-fc%^_ 




" Don't Give Up the Ship." 

Delving in the dust of ten decades. 
By GEORGE SHELDON. 

There has been a wide notice the past year of the events of 
the War of 1812 — '11. Centennial anniversaries have been cel- 
ebrated, and the newspapers have been filled with reports. My 
field of investigation has been somewhat limited, but every ar- 
ticle 1 have seen, and nearly every person I have talked with 
on the subject, has been imbued with a mistaken idea, regarding 
the origin of the famous words, "Don't Give up the Ship." 

Throughout my small area of information it has been al- 
most uniformly asserted that these words were originally spoken 
by Oliver Hazard Perry, on the occasion of his great victory 
on Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813. This is an error. This apparent 
condition of the public mind has moved me to write this paper. 
I wish to do justice to an honored name. 

The words were uttered by Capt, James Lawrence on the 
first of June, 1813. 

Lawrence was a man with a career. As a youth of twenty- 
three, while serving as lieutenant under Stephen Decatur, he 
was one of the party who earned lasting fame in the capture 
and destruction of the ship Philadelphia, in that nest of pirates, 
the harbor of Tripoli, Feb. 15, 1804. 

Why the licensed piracy of the Algerines had been allowed 
to dominate the naval world for three hundred years, and dic- 
tate terms of tribute to every naval power, is utterly past com- 
prehension r but such was the fact. I have never met a single 
line in which any one has ever attempted to give an explana- 
tion of this condition of affairs. Even our own country had 
so far degraded itself as to build and present a war-ship, the 
Crescent, to the Dey of Algiers, on demand. 



But be it .stated to the credit of our young country — only 
thirty-two years acknowledged to be a nation — that she made 
the first move in the world-wide rebellion against this infamous 
practice, as will soon appear. 

War with Great Britian was declared June 18, 1812. Law- 
rence had been continued in active service, and was now in 
command of the sloop-of-war, Hornet. Feb. 24, 1813, the Hor- 
net fell in with the British sloop-of-war, Peacock, and after a 
short but fierce contest the British bird sank, carrying down 
thirteen of her own crew, and also three of the Hornet's men 
who were engaged in a mission of rescue. 

This was one of those splendid victories that set the world 
agape and threw Great Britian into a terrible panic which was 
intensified as the months sped on. 

To the brilliant achievement of the Hornet and Peacock 
may be added the capture of the Guerriere by the Constitution, 
(.'apt. Isaac Hull. This was peculiarly humbling to Great 
Britain for the Guerriere was a particularly fine ship which she 
had captured from the French, as its name would indicate, and 
exhibited as a token of her prowess. In less than half an hour 
after the first gun, the British colors lay at the feet of Capt. 
Hull. The Guerriere had been dismasted, and was in a sink- 
ing condition. She was, in fact, such a wreck that Capt. Hull 
thought she was not worth the attempt of taking her into port, 
and therefore she was blown up ; her crew was carried into 
Boston, where Hull received "such an ovation as few men have 
ever earned in so short a time." 

The capture, soon after, of the British war-ship. Frolic, 
by Capt. Jones of the Wasp, was another of those brilliant ex- 
ploits so widely celebrated in story and song. 

The consternation in England was still further increased 
by another victory, when Capt. Stephen Decatur of the United 
Slates captured the British war-ship, Macedonia/ft. In his of- 
ficial report to the Secretary of the Navy, Decatur says, the 
Macedonian mounting 49 guns "is a frigate of the largest class 
two years old, four months out of dock, and reputed one of 
the best sailors in the British service." Decatur continues, 
speaking of his own crew, "the enthusiasm of every officer, sea- 



man and marine on board this ship, on discovering the enemy — 
their steady conduct in battle, and precision of their fire, could 
not be surpassed." 

Had the wireless existed in the closing days of the year the 
nerves of Great Britian must have been again shocked by the 
news on Dec. 29, 1812, of the fate of another favorite frigate, the 
Java, which was captured and destroyed by Capt. Bainbridge of 
our Constitution; and once more when Bainbridge, in the Enter- 
prise, repeated this exploit by capturing the brig Boxer. 

My allotted time will not allow of the specific mention of 
other remarkable victories by our invincible tars. 

It will no doubt be a cause of general surprise to learn the 
real condition of public opinion on naval matters in England 
at this period. 

To reveal this condition a few extracts from reliable au- 
thorities will be given. It will appear that England was under- 
going a genuine scare on the question of naval supremacy. The 
following is from a French newspaper: — 

"The British who had triumphed in so many naval combats, 
previously to the prevailing American War, have long relin- 
guished the practice of rejoicing for victories obtained over 
a single frigate. If an achievement of that sort took place 
against any of the European powers, the detail of the action was 
merely inserted in the London Gazette, the papers of the me- 
tropolis echoed the narrative, paid a passing compliment to the 
officer, and the affair went off being recorded, pro memoria, in the 
Naval Chronicle, as a thing of course. * * * In the Americans 
the British have found an enemy that has obstructed the agree- 
able train of their maritime ideas. The citizens of the United 
States are the best seamen in the world. Their officers are men 
of nautical science, of great experience, and generally in the 
prime of life. The first naval combat of the war, marked, not 
a single equality of skill and courage in the men of the two 
countries, but a decided superiority in favour of the Americans. 
If the English pride was mortified in the sudden reverse by the 
capture of the Guerriere, the whole British government was 
thrown into consternation at the capture of the Macedonian, 
the Java, the Frolic and the Peacock. Such rapid and succes- 



sive defeats made the cabinet of St. James bristle again; it 
seemed as if all the English captains were doomed to pass, one 
.it'ter the other, under the Yankee yoke, or to the regions of 
the dead !" 

O'Connor in his History of the War, published in 1817, 
endorses the above statement. 

An English newspaper of this period says, "It will not do 
for our vessels to fight theirs single handed." 

John Quincy Adams, then Minister at St. Petersburg, writes 
under date of Jan. 31, 1813, — "I have been reading a multitude 
of speculations in the English Newspapers, about the capture 
of their two Frigates, Guerriere and Macedonian. They have 
settled it that the American forty-fours are line of battleships 
in disguise, and that henceforth all the frigates in the British 
Navy are to have the privilege of running away from them! 
Tli is of itself is no despicable result of the first half year of 
War. Let it be once understood as a matter of course that 
every single frigate in the British Xavy is to shrink from a con- 
test with the American frigates, and even this will have its ef- 
fect upon the Spirits of the Tars on both sides. 

'It differs a little from the time when the Guerriere went 
out with her name painted in Capitals on her fore top sail, in 
search of our disguised line of battleship President. 

'But the English Admiralty have further ordered the im- 
mediate construction of seventeen new frigates, to be disguised 
line of Battleships, too. Their particular destination is to be 
to tight the Americans. Their numbers will be six to one 
against us. unless we too, taking the hint from our success, can 
ho il<l frigate for frigate and meet them on their own terms." 

The following taken from the "Croker Papers" will give 
us a clear idea of the condition of the naval mind in view of 
I he recent American triumphs: — 

'My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having re- 
ceived intelligence that several of the American ships of war 
are now at sea I have their Lordships' commands to acquaint 
you therewith, and that they do not conceive that any of his 
Majesty's frigates should attempt to engage, single handed, the 



5 

larger .'lass uf American ships, which, though they may he 
called frigates, are of a size, complement and weight of metal 
much beyond that class, and more resembling line of battle- 
ships." [Much of this palaver about the size of our ships 
was mere fable, and used only as a balm to heal British humil- 
iating sores.] 

"In the event of one of his Majesty's frigates under your 
orders falling in with one of these ships, his Captain should 
endeavor in the first instance to secure the retreat of his Maj- 
esty's ships, but if he finds that he has an advantage in sailing 
he shall endeavor to manoeuvre, and keep company with her, 
without coming to action, in the hope of falling in with some 
other of his Majesty's ships with whose assistance the enemy 
might be attacked with a reasonable hope of success. 

"It is their Lordships' further directions that you make 
this known as soon as possible to the several captains com- 
manding his Majesty's ships." 

John Quincy Adams again writes: — "The Times abuses 
the Ministry for not having blown the American Navy to atoms, 
and Canning abuses them in Parliament for not having ravaged 
our coast with fire and sword. They say in answer to the first 
that they gave orders to their admirals on the American Sta- 
tion to burn, sink and destroy all American vessels * * * and 
that they have constantly had on those American Stations a 
force equal to seven times the whole American Navy." 

In a letter written Feb. 25, 1813, Mrs. Abigail Adams gives 
a lively account of the state of affairs at this time: — 

"First in the triumph was Captain Hull in the frigate 
Constitution, who engaged and captured the British frigate 
Guerriere making her a wreck * * * Capt. Jones in the 
Wasp sloop of war fought, dismasted and took the British 
sloop of war the Frolic * * * Commodore Decatur in the 
frigate U. S. captured the British frigate Macedonian, and 
brought her safely into New York * * * Commodore Bain- 
bridge * * * engaged, fought and conquered the British 
frigate Java. * * * I have been concise for time would fail 
me to detail to you how these conquerors have been received, 
and the honors which have been conferred upon them by Leg- 
islatures and public bodies in the various States." 



Had Mrs. Adams been in connection with the electric tel- 
egraph she would have related also the fate of the British war- 
ship Peacock which was stung to death by the Hornet, under 
Capt. James Lawrence, the very day before her letter was 
written. 

We now come to the story of the Chesapeake and Shannon. 
The name of the Chesapeake had been for years as familiar as 
a household word. It had appeared in every newspaper in 
England and America. 

The wanton attack upon the Chesapeake by the British ship. 
Leopard, in 1807, was one of the prime causes that led to the 
War of 1812. The incident had been doctored by the diplomats, 
and the insult was supposed to have been atoned for ; the wound, 
however, never healed, but continued to rankle in the American 
bosom. 

The Chesapeake will now appear in a new role. In the 
spring of 1813 she was stationed in Boston Harbor. About 
the middle of May, Capt. James Lawrence, whose startling rec- 
ord in the conquest of the Peacock had astonished Great Britain, 
and aroused the admiration of the world, was put in command. 
Capt. Lawrence accepted the position with reluctance. Things 
were not as they should have been on board the Chesapeake. 
Capt. Evans, the previous commander, had recently returned 
from a long cruise, and there was some undetermined complaint 
among the sailors in regard to prize money. Some writers have 
said that a faction was in an almost mutinous condition. Capt. 
Evans had resigned. The Chesapeake was being refitted and 
the crew reorganized. Capt. Lawrence did the best he could 
in regard to the officers and crew, and made efforts to satisfy 
the disaffected sailors. Evidently, however, the discontent 
among the men was not wholly allayed. 

In the meantime things were happening. Great Britain, 
as we have seen, had been in great distress of mind over the vic- 
tories achieved by the "upstart" American captains. She had 
offered attractive and valuable prizes for the capture of a 
Yankee war-ship. 

Perhaps ('apt. Philip Broke of the Shannon had some of 
these prizes in view when he made arrangements for a cruise to 



the New England coast. Directions had been issued, as we have 
seen, by the British Admiralty to the different captains of the 
vessels not to go to sea alone for fear of meeting one of those 
formidable Yankees. Accordingly the Tenedos, a vessel of 
about equal size to the Shannon, was taken along with her as 
mate. Broke cruised about the New England coast, and with- 
out doubt was in communication with somie of the anti-admin- 
istration Federalists on shore; through them he probably re- 
ceived exaggerated reports of the disorganized condition of the 
Chesapeake. At any rate he took upon himself the responsibil- 
ity of disobeying instructions of his Government not to fight 
an American ship alone. He soon appeared off Boston Harbor, 
flaunting his flag in the face of our small fleet. 

Meanwhile Capt. Lawrence was bending all his energies 
in preparing for a cruise. 

Capt. Broke had sent a challenge for Capt. Lawrence to 
meet him in a duel. In seeming chivalry, but as a clear mat- 
ter of necessity, he had sent his mate to Halifax, knowing, of 
course, that Lawrence would never consent to meet two ships 
of equal size. With his challenge Broke sent a description of 
the strength of his vessel, naming the number of men, guns, 
etc. 

The meanness and duplicity of Capt. Broke appear in the 
fact, to which all agree, that there were men fighting on board 
the Shannon wearing hats of two other crews, the Tenedos and 
the Belle Ponle. The number of men given as smuggled on 
board differs according to various writers, from scores to 
hundreds; statements also differ in regard to the underrating 
of his guns. 

It has been clearly established that Lawrence never re- 
ceived this challenge, as it did not arrive on the morning of 
June 1, until after he had sailed, but this makes no difference 
in the fact of Capt. Broke 's duplicity. 

From a lengthy account of the battle between the Chesa- 
peake and the Shannon in M'Carty's History of the American 
War of 1812, published in 1817, we make two brief extracts: — 

"A second and a third broadside was exchanged with evi- 
dent advantage on the part of the Chesapeake.'' 



8 

It thus appears that at first fortune favored Lawrence, but 
the fortunes of war, always uncertain, soon turned against the 
Americans. 

'The Captain, the first [acting] lieutenant, the sailing 
master, the boat's swain, the lieutenant of marines, the only 
acting lieutenant on the spar deck, were all killed or disabled." 
The first lieutenant, Octavius Augustus Page, was then sick on 
shore, and died three days later. 

But the great and final cause of the disaster was the per- 
sistent ill luck in the devastation amongst the rigging of the 
Chesapeake. The main stays were shot away, as were the most 
vital parts of the steering gear. Masts were tottering, spars 
were shattered, halyards and sails were hanging loosely in every 
direction. The Chesapeake had passed beyond human control, 
and it drifted a helpless wreck at the mercy of the winds and 
waves. The luckless current of the sea set her drifting diag- 
onally stern foremost directly into the open mouths of the 
Shannon's guns, without her being able to bring a single piece 
to bear upon the enemy's ship. The decks of the Chesapeake 
were swept with a hail storm of iron from stern to stem; three 
helmsmen were killed, and scarcely a living thing could there 
exist. 

Meanwhile Capt. Lawrence who had received a painful 
wound was still giving his orders from his post on the quar- 
ter deck. Here he received his mortal wound. While being 
carried below he gave his last command in the immortal words, 
"DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP." 

After the second broadside the accidents of fortune seem to 
have predetermined that every missile of the Shannon should 
do ils maximum of mischief. 

Accounts of what followed vary in some minor particulars 
Inil the essentials are here given. 

The inst;m1 the Chesapeake in its helpless drift came in 
contact with the Shannon, Capt. Broke with a party of boarders 
Leaped on deck without resistance. 

Tn some sequestered nook of the forecastle, protected from 
the Shannon's fire, part of the crew had collected, and were 
well supplied with small arms. These now, under the command 



9 

of First Lieutenant Ludlow made a desperate dash, and in a 
few minutes the larger part of the boarders lay upon the decks 
killed or wounded, including Capt. Broke, but Lieut. Ludlow 
had received his mortal wound. The constant stream of re- 
cruits from the abundant store surreptitiously provided by 
Capt. Broke soon overpowered the leaderless crew of the Ches- 
apeake. 

As quickly as possible the Shannon with her victim got 
away for Halifax. Capt. Lawrence was delirious so that we may 
hope he never knew that his last command had not been obeyed. 
The career of our distinguished hero ended June 5. He was 
buried at Halifax, June 8, with all the military honors which 
could be given a British officer. The funeral arrangements 
were in charge of the local government at Halifax, Capt. Broke 
being disabled by his wound. 

The body of Capt. Lawrence, in a rich mahogany coffin, was 
borne from the Chesapeake to King's Wharf in a 12-oared 
barge with measured strokes, and minute guns, followed by a 
procession of boats, two and two, all filled with British naval 
officers, arranged in order of rank according to directions is- 
sued the day before by the senior naval officer at Halifax. 
Six British sea-captains officiated as pall-bearers, and, as an 
added mark of respect, one of his own flags from the Chesa- 
peake was used for a pall. 

The body was received at King's Wharf by the 64th regi- 
ment pursuant to an order issued to the land forces, with 
minute guns, muffled drums, colors draped in mourning, crepe 
on the left arm, and all known insignia of military mourning. 

After most solemn obsequies conducted by the Rector of 
St. Paul the body was followed to the grave by a long proces- 
sion of sailors, soldiers and citizens, including the wounded of- 
ficers of both ships, and the captured officers and crew of the 
Chesapeake. 

Three volleys were fired over the grave of the hero, and he 
was left to be, — 

'By strangers honored and by strangers mourned." 
About this time there was living in Salem a patriot by 
the name of George Crowninshield. He had plenty of money 
and plenty of leisure, but he could not rest content so long as 



IO 

the ashes of Capt. Lawrence were mingling with British soil. 
He procured the brig, Hairy, enlisted an honorary crew of 
twelve Salem sea-captains; himself a captain, he took com- 
mand and sailed away for Halifax. Obtaining permission from 
the authorities, he took the body of Capt. Lawrence on board 
the Henry, and conveyed it to Salem, where it was placed 
temporarily in a tomb while arrangements were being made 
for a public funeral. 

August 17, 1813, Salem was thronged. An eye-witness says, 
"it was an occasion of great public mourning, and the side- 
walks and housetops were black with spectators." The people 
were moved by contending emotions; grief at the loss of their 
naval hero, and satisfaction over the return of his precious 
remains. 

But these remains were not long to rest in Salem. Un- 
der the management of the family of Capt. Lawrence plans 
were made to convey the body to New York in the Henry, 
the same brig in which they had been brought from Halifax. 
At this time New York was closely blockaded by the British. 
Application was made to Capt, Oliver, the leader, for permis- 
sion to pass the Henry, with the body of Capt. Lawrence, 
under a flag of truce, into New York harbor. 

According to the best available authorities this applica- 
tion was refused with shameful insolence. Other means, how- 
ever, were found for conveying the remains to the city. 

At New York, on Sept. 16, the funeral obsequies of Capt. 
Lawrence were observed in the most solemn and elaborate man- 
ner. It is estimated that 50.000 people assembled to do honor 
to our national hero. The ceremonies were under the direction 
of the city Council, and the city furnished the tomb for his 
final resting place. 

I have dwelt at some length upon the condition of public, 
opinion concerning ('apt, Lawrence by his contemporaries a 
century ago, for the purpose of contrasting it with a lower es- 
timate which appears in a late publication. 

My attention has been called recently to an article con- 
tained in Volume 46 of the Proceedings of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society, in winch it appears to me gross injustice 



II 

is done to the memory of the gallant Capt. Lawrence. It is 
there stated hy Rear-Admiral French Ensor Chadwick of the 
United States Navy that, — "Our real disaster, the loss of the 
Chesapeake, was simply the result of a bad judgment, prob- 
ably better described as fatuity. Officers and crew were en- 
tirely new to the ship. Not a gun's crew had been exercised, 
not a sail had been bent before the day of action. To go out 
in such a state of unpreparedness to meet a ship of like force, 
which had been three years and a half in commission, was fol- 
ly. We fight to win for the country, not to satisfy personal 
pride, and I can see nothing but unwisdom, amounting to folly, 
though it was coupled with great gallantry, in the conduct of 
the Captain of the Chesapeake in accepting a challenge under 
such almost hopeless circumstances." 

In passing let me say that here the Admiral has made 
one mistake. We have seen that Capt. Lawrence never re- 
ceived a challenge from Capt. Broke for the challenge did not 
reach Boston until after he had sailed. 

In regard to the Admiral's insinuations concerning the 
character and motives of Capt. Lawrence I will say nothing, 
but in regard to the more serious charge of stupidity and in- 
action I have some evidence, fortunately, which proves that the 
Admiral is in error. I have notes made by my great uncle, 
Elihu Hoyt of Deerfield, known to me personally the last 
dozen years of his life, which throw light on the subject. 
Uncle Elihu 's word was equal to the very best. He was a 
magistrate, and a prominent civilian in the politics of his state. 
He was for thirty years in its service as Councilor, Senator or 
Representative. In the year 1813 he was a member of the 
House. He was also at this time Captain of the militia in his 
native town ; himself and company subject to be called into ac- 
tive service at the front at any moment, and was, of course, 
deeply interested in all the events of the war. On the 29th 
of May he went down the Harbor to visit Capt. Lawrence on 
board the Chesapeake, for the purpose of witnessing his prac-~ 
tice in preparation for meeting British cruisers. 

Uncle Elihu was a man of slender means with habits of 
strict economy. It is inconceivable that he should have gone 



12 

in the extravagance of hiring a boat and a crew, and of spend- 
ing a day for a ceremonious call on Capt. Lawrence. The in- 
ference is irresistible that he had heard there was something 
doing down there, and that the same news had reached the 
ears of other Boston people, so that a party of friends clubbed 
together and went down to see the show and to satisfy their 
curiosity. They certainly would not have gone without a rea- 
sonable prospect of seeing something worth their while. 

I copy the following, verbatim, from Uncle Elihu's note 
book: — "May 29th went on board the Frigate Chesapeake, 
stayed 3 or -i hours, saw them exercise their great guns, & 
go through «U the movements for attack & defence of a Ship 
in lime of battle." 

What does Admiral Chadwick suppose this boat load of 
Boston people were doing for three or four hours on board 
the Chesapeake that day? What were they there for? 

Probably exaggerated rumors had reached the Boston 
sightseers of the practice performance of Capt. Lawrence for 
Uncle Elihu was not satisfied. 

He says: — "was disappointed, did not find so good disci- 
pline as expected, they were not so expert at the great guns 
as I expected — Capt. Lawrence is a fine looking fellow." 

On that day Uncle Elihu made the acquaintance of Lieut. 
Augustus Ludlow, and probably saw a good deal of him, for 
we may assume that the Lieutenant would be in the exercise 
of his office — drilling the crew for active service. The visitor 
speaks of Ludlow as "a rough fellow." Berhaps a rough fel- 
low was needed to mould the raw material into shape for effi- 
cient action, and this may have been one of the qualifica- 
tions for which he had been selected by Capt. Lawrence. 

Three days after this visit occurred the battle of the Ches- 
apeake and Shannon off Boston Harbor. The guns were heard 
in Boston and another party was organized. 

Uncle Elihu writes: — 

".June 1st Chesapeake went to sea was taken same day by 
the British Frigate Shannon, went down to see the action, was 
too Late, saw the Frigates & the smoke of the guns, but the 
distance \\;is too great to distinguish the movements, saw 4 



'3 

or 5 gunboats at anchor below the light house, saw them fire 
their great guns, got back to Boston about 12 oclock at night." 

This excursion seems to be a little out of the ordinary for 
the air of that region was shivered by hurtling iron and charged 
with foul smoke, so that Uncle Elihu should have considered 
himself fortunate, instead of baffled, in not being able to reach 
this cyclone of destruction. 

There is another piece of evidence bearing on the ques- 
tion of Capt. Lawrence's practice, showing that the charge of 
Admiral Chadwick is erroneous. 

In the official report of the Court of Investigation on the 
loss of the Chesapeake, the members of which were such men 
as Hull and Bainbridge, the following statement occurs: — 

'It appears to the Court, that as the ships were getting 
foul, Capt. Lawrence ordered the boarders to be called ; but the 
bugle man, Wni Brown, stationed to call the boarders by 
sounding a bugle, had deserted his quarters, and when dis- 
covered and ordered to call, was unable, from fright, to sound 
his horn ; that midshipmen went below immediately to pass 
the word for the boarders; but not being called in the way they 
had been usually exercised few came upon the upper deck." 

Here is evidence which cannot be disputed, that Capt. Law- 
rence, instead of being idle, was in active practice in prepara- 
tion to met the enemy. He was, certainly, systematically dril- 
ling an organized company of boarders. 

There is no doubt the Board of Examiners believed the 
work of Capt. Lawrence had been so efficiently done, that even 
with every officer above the midshipman either dead or dis- 
abled in the cock pit, even then the Board believed that had 
the cowardly Scotch bugler remained at his post, and given the 
customary "Boarders' Call," the boarders would have re- 
sponded, and Capt, Broke would never have found a foothold 
on the deck of the Chesapeake. 

What Admiral Chadwick calls "our real disaster" was not 
so considered by the country, and it had no discouraging ef- 
fects on the people. The Spirit of Freedom had been awakened, 
and was stirred to more and more vigorous action by the bril- 
liant successes of Lawrence, Hull, Decatur and others. 



•4 

In all my extensive reading of contemporaneous or other 
writers on the subject, I have never before met with a single 
syllabic which would impute the loss of the Chesapeake to the 
inefficiency, stupidity, or "fatuity" as Admiral Chadwick puts 
it, of the commander. It has been generally considered that 
the loss was due to a fateful combination of unfortunate ac- 
cidents. 

The fame of our hero was not in the slightest degree tar- 
nished. Witness: he was given what perhaps no other man 
had ever before received, three grand and imposing funeral 
ovations by contemporaries who knew his every act. The flag- 
ship of the fleet then building on Lake Erie was named, by the 
Secretary of the Navy, in his honor, the Lawrence, and on her 
banner was fittingly inscribed his dying words, "Don't Give up 
the Ship." 

About three months after the battle of the Chesapeake and 
Shannon an event occurred which was the most notable in the 
naval history of the two nations. An entire British fleet was 
captured by an American fleet. 

Oliver Hazard Perry was commander of the American fleet 
on Lake Erie and the British fleet was commanded by Capt. 
Robert II. Barclay. 

Perry's flagship was the Lawrence. The patriotic women 
of Erie had presented him with a fighting flag, on which they 
had sewed in white block letters, twelve inches high, the last 
command of Capt. Lawrence, "Don't Give up the Ship." Un- 
der this flag the famlous battle of Lake Erie was fought and won. 

In this fierce struggle, by some trick of the wind or other 
cause, the vessels expected to support Perry did not appear, so 
thai he was surrounded and overwhelmed by a greatly superior 
force. Under his inspiring motto he could not give up the ship. 
Ordering a boat with four oarsmen he took down his flag and 
rowed to the Niagara. When this flag was taken down the 
British considered the Lawrence had surrendered; their firing 
ceased, and loud cheers ran through the British' fleet. But 
Perry's departure was soon observed, and the air around him 
was at once darkened by showers of round shot, grape, canister 
and builds from the enemy. 



15 

In a few minutes his Hag was Hying at the mast head of 
the Niagara. 

When Perry left the Lawrence his last charge to Lieut. 
Yarnall was, "Don't Give up the Ship." Yarnall accepted the 
charge and ran up his ship's flag at once, but when Perry's es- 
cape was observed the attack on the Lawrence was renewed 
with redoubled fury. Yarnall, with the crew reduced from 103 
to 14, could no longer resist, and in a short time his ship's 
colors were lowered. Perry from the deck of the Niagara ob- 
served this action. In his official report he says: — 

"It was with unspeakable pain that I saw, soon after I got 
on board the Niagara, the flag of the Lawrence come down, al- 
though I was perfectly sensible that she had been defended to 
the last, and that to have continued to make a show of resistance 
would have been a wanton sacrifice of the remains of her brave 
crew. ' ' 

But the British could not take possession of the Lawrence; 
all were occupied in self defence, for in a trice the Niagara 
was amongst them pouring torrents of shot and shell from star- 
board and larboard with such terrible effect that in a few 
moments, not a British flag was flying on the waters of Lake 
Erie. * 

Shortly after the close of the battle Perry returned to his 
old flagship, and transferred his flag to its original place. Not 
a British foot had fallen upon the deck of the Lawrence, nor 
did one, until Perry had the supreme satisfaction of seeing the 
six officials who had surrendered their vessels (the wounded 
Barclay by a representative) come on board, and, one by one, 
deliver up their swords in token of submission. The conclu- 
sion of each ceremony was the same — the handing back of the 
weapon to its owner. 

Perry treated Capt. Barclay with the greatest kindness; 
later he gave him the use of his own cabin, the best surgical 
treatment and the tenderest care. By these acts of high cour- 
tesy, and others of a similar nature. Perry made personal 
friends of his official enemies. 

* At this point a piece of the original hull of the Niagara was shown 
to the audience by the reader. It was a gift to our Museum from Mr. 
William H. Stebbins of Buffalo, N. Y., a native of Deerfield. 



i6 

It has been said that Perry's motto flag was left flying on 
the Lawrence when her hero left her for the Niagara. Our dis- 
tinguished historian, Bancroft, accepts this story, but in this 
lie is contradicted by every other writer I have met, and goes, 
a hundred to one, against the probabilities of the case. 

The main facts of our subject have here been given in 
simple prose. The brilliant victories of our Navy, however, 
gave opportunity to the bards to send abroad on the wings of 
song each his own version of our splendid exploits. I have 
seen, at least, a half dozen versions of "Perry's Victory." 
These songs may not, in all cases, be good literature, but there 
must needs have been some vent for the swelling pride of our 
minstrels over our national triumphs. 

The country was flooded with these songs. They floated 
across the Atlantic, and doubtless every British sailor had heard 
their ringing notes in the mess-room; and they could not have 
been unknown even on the quarter deck. 

The effect must have been depressing, and the Admiralty's 
orders to the captains not to go out on the water alone must 
have intensified the feeling. John Quincy Adams writes, "the 
effect of these songs in England w r as exasperating, but on our 
side of the water it was exhilarating." 

The English writer who complains "we have no longer 
any national song" had no doubt become surfeited by their ex- 
ultant notes. Without question he had heard of Chancellor 
Kilty's variation of "Rule Britannia:" — 

"For see, Columbia's sons arise, 
Firm, independent, bold and free; 

They too shall seize the glorious prize, 
And share the empire of the sea; 
Hence then, let freemen rule the waves 
And those who yield them still be slaves." 

One of these songs, called "Perry's Victory," I remember 
hearing over eighty years ago. It was sung by the broom- 
makers in the shop on the homestead of my Grandfather Steh- 
bins where T now reside. 11 describes the battle of Lake Erie. 
The first stanza which I recall runs thus: — 



17 

"The tenth of September Lei us remember 
So long as the globe on its axis rolls round, 

Our tars and marines on Lake Eric were seen. 
To make the proud flag of Great Britain come down." 

For reasons which will appear I would like to comment 
upon another stanza: — 

"There is one gallant act of our noble Commander 
While writing my song I must notice with pride, 

While launched in the boat that carried the standard, 
A ball whistled through her just close by his side. 

Says Perry, 'The rascals intend for to drown us; 
But push on, my brave boys, you never need fear,' 

And with his own coat he plugged up the boat, 
And through fire and sulphur away he did steer." 

This stanza contains the only record I have found of 
Perry's boat being struck by a single missile from the enemy 
while on its perilous passage from the Lawrence to the Niagara. 
But I think we may safely consider it as history. Could it by 
any possibility have been an invention ! 

It is indeed a miracle that this little boat and its crew es- 
caped total destruction, but such is the established fact. 

A third stanza that I recall relates to Perry taking posses- 
sion of the Niagara where he hoisted his motto flag: — 

"The famed Niagara now proud of her Perry 
Displayed all her banners in gallant array, 

And twenty-five guns on her deck she did carry, 
Which soon put an end to this bloody affray." 

In all other accounts of this conflict the Niagara is rated 
as a 20-gun vessel, and there can be no doubt about the truth 
of this statement. For fear, however, that the writer of my 
song may be accused of telling a wrong story, I will dwell a 
little upon this point. 

It appears that the habit of adding extra guns to the reg- 
ularly rated number had become at this period an almost uni- 
versal custom. There is sufficient evidence to prove this fact 
beyond the shadow of a doubt. 



i8 

In trustworthy records we read, here and there, that the 
( onstitution rated at 44 guns, carried 54; the Pelican, rated at 
18, carried 21; the Argus, 16, carried 20; the Essex, 32, car- 
ried 4(3 ; the Java, 38, carried 49 ; and so on. 

My old song was written very soon after the event occurred. 
'1 he writer should have known what he was writing about. 
Evidently he took some little liberty as a poetical license in the 
pronunciation of the word Niagara, but he could have no pos- 
sible object in misstating the facts. Extra guns were placed 
in all available positions. I find one long-nine projecting from 
a cabin window. There were guns on the main deck, the bul- 
warks being cut away for their operation; guns on the poop 
and even on the quarter deck, and two thrust through the 
bridle ports, etc. 

I have not the slightest doubt that we are justified, on the 
strength of our old song, and the above facts, in adding to our 
list the Niagara, rated 20 guns, carrying 25. She would be 
doing only as most of her sisters did when she augmented her 
force by the addition of five guns. 

WAR OF 1815. 

I wish to close this paper with a few brief remarks con- 
cerning the War of 1815. 

Within the circle of my acquaintance I have yet to meet 
a single individual who knows that we had a War in 1815. 

The Barbary states — Algiers, Morocco, Tunis and Tripoli — 
had dominated the naval world for three hundred years, as I 
have already said, and during the late war with England these 
stales had been aggressive and insolent. Peace having been 
declared with Great Britain, Dec. 1814, America was now at 
liberty to settle old scores with the Barbary states, and March 
2, 1815, formerly declared war against this piratical crew. 

Commodore Stephen Decatur was sent with a squadron to 
the Mediterranean with directions to enforce a treaty of peace, 
to claim payment for certain damages, and to set all American 
captives Tree from Algerine slavery without ransom. 

This treaty, as it was uniformly called, with its twenty- 
two distinct articles, had been formulated in all its details by 
President Madison, and prepared for the Dey's signature, as 



•9 

the head of the Barbary Confederacy. This was rather an 
unique proceeding — the diplomacy being all on one side, but 
Madison had reached that point where patience ceased to be a 
virtue, and he had no scruples in dealing with these sea-robbers 
with a mailed hand. 

Decatur had this great advantage. The Algerines had im- 
bibed the late popular estimate of the American sailors. Our 
reputation as fighters had been established across the seas. This 
is shown by the following extract from a contemporaneous let- 
ter : — 

"You have no idea of the respect which the American char- 
acter has gained by our late wars. The Spaniards, especially, 
think we are devils incarnate, as we beat the English, who beat 
the French, who beat them, whom nobody have beat before — 
and the Algerines whom the devil himself could not beat ' 

Decatur was held to be the representative of this power 
with means to back his demands. On his arrival in the harbor 
of Algiers he hoisted the Swedish flag. The Swedish Consul 
in Algiers responded and came off in his own boat; all the 
early communications with the Dey were carried on under the 
Swedish flag. 

Decatur bearded the lion in his very den by sending to 
the Dey a copy of the treaty of peace, demanding his signa- 
ture; in default of which, direful things would happen, giving 
notice at the same time that two of his own war vessels had 
already been captured. The Dey was not unacquainted with 
Decatur and his methods. He could not have forgotten the 
.part played by this hero in the fate of the Philadelphia, and 
all the world recognized the Commodore as one of that bril- 
liant galaxy which created such a commotion in England dur- 
ing the War of 1812. The name of Decatur's flagship, the 
Giterrriere, could not have suggested pleasant recollections, 
and the Dey plainly read his doom in the stars and stripes 
spangling the bay. He lost no time in sending word by his 
agents that if Commodore Decatur would come ashore all mat- 
ters would be discussed and arranged. 

Decatur's prompt response was, 

"All discussions must be on board my flagship." 



20 

At this time the Dey was expecting the return of several 
ships which might appear at any moment, and he immediately 
made arrangements, and authorized agents were hurriedly sent 
on board the flagship ; the agents begged that a flag of truce 
be hoisted and hostilities suspended for three hours pending 
negotiations. 

Decatur replied, "Not a minute. If your squadron ap- 
pears in sight before the treaty is actually signed by the Dey, 
and the prisoners sent on board, ours would capture them." 

As the examination of the articles of the treaty proceeded, 
the agents suggested certain alterations in the text. Decatur 
finally told them not one single w T ord in any of the articles 
would be changed; perforce the demands of each article were 
agreed to, one by one, and the treaty was sent by Decatur to 
the Dey, for his official signature. 

Meanwhile the Dey, clearly foreseeing the result of Deca- 
tur's visit, made himself busy in preparing for the return of 
the agents, by counting out the needful wherewith to settle all 
claims, by releasing the bewildered captives from slavish bonds, 
and gathering them together on the wharf. Once here the cap- 
tives saw, in place of the baleful flag of their captors, the be- 
loved stars and stripes brightly dotting the bay, and spelling 
out their own freedom,. As they realized the new conditions 
the welkin must have rung with their shouts of ecstatic joy. 

Although the distance to the Dey from the ship was fully 
five miles, the agents hurried back within three hours with the 
treaty signed and with the over-joyed captives. But before 
they arrived, Decatur's flag of truce had already gone up on 
observing a given signal, pursuant to an agreement with the 
Swedish Consul that the captives were in his hands, and all 
requirements fulfilled. 

From that moment on June 21, the War of 1815 practically 
ended. In due time the treaty was ratified by Congress. 

After Decatur had been on a little collecting tour to Tunis 
and Tripoli, picking up captives and settling claims, which 
were always promptly met, he turned his prow toward home 
witli the signed treaty of peace in one hand, and in the other 
the released captives, and a fat pocket book containing, at 
least, $81,000. 



21 



This treaty, we repeat, was unique in one respect. The 
party of the second part was never consulted as to any one of 
its twenty-two articles, and the Dey was forced to sign at the 
cannon's month. The treaty was drawn up by a skilled diplo- 
mat who had twenty years of political responsibility at his 
back, and its terms were so just and equitable that it settled 
for all time the political relations between the two countries. 

Decatur had accomplished the work for which he was sent. 
President Madison had surely selected a fit man for his purpose. 

The concessions of the trembling Dey to the invincible 
Decatur ended forever the reign of terror of the piratical 
Algerines. Great Britain, which had paid an annual humili- 
ating tribute for unnumbered years, took courage, and the next 
summer, joined by the Dutch fleet, followed the example of 
the United States in demanding similar treatment, and the 
same was done by all of the other naval powers. 

But this great achievement was the work of the American 
Navy, under President Madison, and the whole naval world 
should pay due honor to our heroes. 

This Navy from the first battle of the War of 1812, to the 
close of the War of 1815, was inspired by the same spirit which 
found fitting expression in the undying words of Capt. James 
Lawrence : 

"Don't Give up the Ship." 



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